Embrace the Wind (6 page)

He didn’t want the connection. After his wife had been killed, he’d promised himself not to get involved with another woman. But Olivia wasn’t just any female; she had the power to resolve his chronic blood starvation forever. And that was not a small thing.

He backstroked a few yards and floated some more, until he heard the wolf barking.

Lifting his head, he saw that she was at the shoreline, barking at him and pawing at the sand. His heartrate ramped up.
What’s going on? Trouble?

No. I want you here.

Why?

Just come.
She pawed the sand a few more times and added a series of stronger yips.

Curious, he swam swiftly to shore, catching a ride on a couple of waves until he could stand up and walk through the surf.

She sat on her haunches, staring up at him. But even in her wolf form, her gaze drifted all over his body, lingering more than once on his cock. Of course the cold water wasn’t helping a proper presentation, but she’d already seen and felt him so she could let her memory figure things out.

As he left the water and drew close, he was about to ask her again what was going on, when she charged him. She turned at the last second and nipped the back of his knee.

“Ow! Hey!”

She turned and spread her front legs, butt in the air, tail wagging.

Well, hell. She wanted him to play.

He took her cue and charged her back. She spun and took off on a hard lope across the wetter part of the sand, running as fast as she could. Some long-forgotten part of him awakened in that moment, and he ran after her, putting on some of his vampire speed.

But every time he thought he might catch her, she bounded thirty feet in the air, hit the side of the cliff with both back paws simultaneously, then bounded off in the opposite direction. She raced across the sand.

He’d been running so fast he could hardly catch his breath, but he didn’t stop. The chase had worked his blood up and he followed her, his lungs pumping to keep up with how much he exerted himself.

But he still couldn’t catch her.

To hell with this
, he thought. He levitated and added more speed until he caught her mid-flight. He dragged her through the air to the sand and pinned her.

She shifted beneath him, laughing and struggling to breathe. “That was wonderful, Zane. Thank you. I needed that.”

With one hand on her chest keeping her in place, he used his free hand to run his fingers over her V-shaped fur. And as his breathing eased up, his fingers traveled so that he was playing with her breasts and making her nipples tighten into firm buds.

One thing led to another and he entered her body, making love to her again. He held her gaze this time, wanting to watch her come, to watch pleasure pass over her features and to see her breathing once more grow ragged with passion.

As she came, she held him tight and cried out. He even released a second time, pouring all that he was as a man deep inside her.

Later, he watched her rinse off again, sensing she was much more relaxed.

Hell, so, was he.

He even chuckled. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d smiled this much or even laughed.

And he had no pain.

He grew very still at this last thought. Despite his resistance to a relationship of any kind, he valued the sudden, dramatic cessation of decades of crippling stomach pain.

And Olivia, part human, part shifter, had brought this to him.

But who was this blood rose who lived across from the Elf Lords Hideaway, who tracked him in a strange way she called ‘ghosting’, and who’d saved his life because of a cloaking ability she possessed?

“We should get going,” he called to her.

She returned to her clothes and used her jeans to dry herself off. For a long, ridiculous moment, he watched her and lusted all over again. She was beautiful and built, with large breasts and full hips. She was also tall for a woman of any species and strong. If ever a woman had been physically made for him, Olivia fit the bill.

“I like that you’re looking,” she said, hooking her bra. “But it’s going to take you some time to get those leathers and boots back on. You should probably get started.”

He chuckled. Again. He wasn’t even sure why, except that she addressed him without the slightest awe for his position as ruler of Swanicott.

His chest grew tight and hungry for something he’d never had in his entire life, not even with Emily. Could things be different with a woman like Olivia?

He took another deep breath and forced the question out of his head. At the same time, he recalled how much pain his marriage had brought him. He couldn’t go there again, always worrying about the woman in his life, not so long as the Invictus were such a threat in the Nine Realms. He knew that his fear for Emily’s safety had prompted many of their arguments.

Once he was dressed, he flew Olivia across the Arundel Mountains, heading to the coastal area where he’d left his Valkyrie.

When he told Olivia what he was doing, she laughed. “Do you really think it’s still there?”

“No, of course not. Or at least, not all in one piece. But a vampire can hope.”

She leaned her head against his shoulder, holding him tight with an arm around his neck. She used her free hand to fondle his bicep. Knowing that she enjoyed his body, he longed for things he shouldn’t even be thinking about.

Reaching the east coast of Swanicott, he let his internal guidance system direct him back to the spot where he’d left his motorcycle. He groaned. Only a few ripped up chrome pieces remained of the once high-powered machine. He heard a rustling nearby and had a sudden desire to catch one of the damn gremlins and wring its neck. But they were quick devils and would use up way too much of his time and energy to hunt any of them down right now.

“Ease up, Mastyr,” Olivia said. “Your ire is like a snake crawling over my skin.”

He blew the air from his cheeks and huffed a sigh. “Fine. They took my bike. I’m letting it go. At least I have a back-up Harley in the garage.”

“That’s the spirit. Move on.”

She was damn practical, and as he held his arm wide for her, he couldn’t help but smile. She stepped up onto his booted foot and slid her arm tight around his neck once more.

Move on. Sounded like a good idea, maybe on more than just one front.

With Olivia pinned to his side, he rose into the air and headed southeast. His lighthouse compound was a good fifty miles away, and he needed a shower and a change of clothes. Once more he crossed the Maris Luna Inlet, and Wraith Island. He could have taken Olivia back to her home in Barker’s Bend, but right now he didn’t want to let her out of his sight.

She also seemed oddly accepting of their destination.

He tried to put himself in her shoes and asked, “Do you need some alone time? Do you want me to take you home?”

“Hell, no,” she responded quickly. “From what I’ve seen tonight, there’s a good chance you’ll need me again. I’m not going anywhere until this shitty situation with Margetta-the-bitch is resolved, as in, you find a way to kick her out of Swanicott for good. Or break her neck. Though, I’d prefer the latter.”

Of all the things that had happened over the past couple of hours, even more than learning that Olivia was a blood rose, these words slapped his mind but good. The woman thought the way he thought, speaking aloud his own logic and desires.

“Good,” he responded simply.

A few minutes later he landed on the front gravel walk of his home near a several-centuries-old lighthouse. The house faced south with blue shingles and white trim around the door and windows. The shrubs already had a tight, getting-ready-for-winter-look and the lawn had turned beige.

He opened the door for her and when she moved inside, he offered, “Roam at will.”

“Thanks.”

The funny thing was, she didn’t seem all that intrigued by his choice of home or the lighthouse. Most women he’d brought here were fascinated. But then Olivia wasn’t like anyone he’d ever known before.

He showered and changed into fresh battle leathers and a clean maroon, woven shirt. He had several Guard coats and pulled one from the closet. The boots he’d worn would need mending, so he grabbed another pair, one without the skulls. He’d watched Olivia fondle them and knew she’d be disappointed in the simpler silver medallions.

She even liked his metal skulls.

Back in the living room, he found her flipping through a book he had on the history of the Nine Realms.

“So, I’m wondering about something,” he began. “Don’t you think my home next to a lighthouse is somewhat noteworthy?”

“Sure. I guess.”

“You’re not easily impressed, are you?”

Her brows rose. “Have I offended you because of my lack of enthusiasm?”

“Yeah, maybe you have.” But he smiled, wondering what she would say.

She rose from the couch and glanced around. “I spent a lot of time on the Internet searching for info about you. The first time I ghosted you, I was totally freaked out, but it led me here. So I think it’s more that I’m really familiar with your home than that I’m not intrigued. I definitely was at first.”

He frowned, thinking this through. He’d brought a lot of women to this house over the past year, especially those
doneuses
who liked sleeping with him. “This ability you have to ‘ghost’ me as you call it. Does it mean you’ve watched me in the bedroom?”

“Sometimes.” She’d already told him she knew about his adventures at the Elf Lords Hideaway. Maybe she’d watched him there as well. Probably.

“How about the shower? You watch me in there?”

A slow smile overtook her lips. “Often, though usually when you didn’t have a woman with you. You have a magnificent physique, Mastyr. The shifter in me has had a hard time
not
looking.”

He held her gaze for a long moment. “You know something, I like you,” he said at last.

And for the first time since he’d met her in Margetta’s camp, she seemed surprised. Her brows rose. “You do?”

“Sure. What’s not to like?”

Her cheeks colored up. At first, he thought she might be embarrassed by the compliment. But after a moment, he understood that she was pleased.

But this wouldn’t do, all this almost-flirting and passing back and forth of compliments. She wasn’t a relationship kind of woman, and he’d had enough of marital bliss to last him a good century or two. He could never go back to that kind of daily quarreling.

Clearing his throat, he said, “I’m still trying to wrap my head around your ghosting ability. You sure that’s what you did?”

She shrugged. “Answer me this, how do you suppose I knew you were at Margetta’s camp, or that you’d been taken off the street in Britchett Falls?”

“Good point. So, exactly how does it work?” He adjusted the weapons sash that went from his right shoulder to his left hip, making sure the new set of daggers were in tight.

She shrugged. “I just think about you and I’m there, like riding on your shoulder. Not my body, of course, but I can see and hear everything you do. It’s annoying as hell, though, because I wish my tracking device wasn’t stuck to you. I’d undo it if I could, but,” and here she sighed, “I know it’s there for a reason. And at this point, I’m thinking it might have something to do with keeping you alive.”

He stared down at her for a long, long moment. She had a remarkable level of power. But then he knew most of the women who served as a blood rose, also brought something extra to the table. Samantha, of Bergisson Realm, had the power to dissolve the wraith-pair bonds, setting the enslaved realm-person free. And Hannah, of Kellcasse Realm, could release fire from her hands, a power capable of destroying the disabling mist Margetta had used to take him down in Britchett Falls.

And now here was Olivia, half-human but with the ability to ‘ghost’, to cover him with a kind of invisibility shield, and her blood had ended decades of suffering.

“Well, here’s the deal, Olivia. I agree with you and I plan to stick close through the rest of the night. We’ll head back to your house because I’m thinking maybe you’d like a shower as well.”

“Yes, and a new pair of jeans. I love swimming in the ocean, but a rinse-off with fresh water would be wonderful.”

He led her back to the front gravel walk. Once there, he held out his arm to her. She gave a little hop as she stepped up onto his booted foot.

Slinging her arm around his neck, and leaning down to look at his hip boots, she said, “I liked the skulls better.”

He laughed once more. “Me, too.”

He took to the air and flew quickly back to Barker’s Bend, landing near her front porch.

Once inside, Olivia excused herself to take her shower. He took the opportunity to call his Communication Center and check in with Marian again. She reported that the realm had grown very quiet. He then contacted Sawyer and asked how things were going in the south.

Sawyer also confirmed Marian’s assessment since Helms Watch had no reports of Invictus activity, the same with the entire southern part of the realm. Even so, Sawyer had his portion of both the Vampire Guard and the Shifter Brigade patrolling back and forth constantly.

With Chase in the north and Sawyer in the south, Zane had another hundred Guardsmen flying over the towns and hamlets in the rest of the realm, on the lookout for the vicious, deadly wraith pairs.

When he contacted Chase, he asked for further details about the attack at Britchett Falls.

Chase gave a detailed report, including his horror that upon entering the city, Zane was nowhere to be found. The Guard had gone to battle immediately with the Invictus Margetta had left behind. Once the pairs had been vanquished, Chase and his team had worked with the local law-enforcement to seal off the area until the damaged cars could be towed way, the debris removed from the streets, and the broken windows sealed up.

“That end of the city is under control now,” Chase said. “We took all the drunks to jail for the rest of the night to protect them from wraiths looking to forge illegal bonds. So what the hell happened? Do you know yet exactly why we couldn’t get into the city?”

Zane told him about the hidden camp in the west over which Margetta had created yet another powerful spell. He didn’t hold back about the whipping he’d endured or the details about Olivia’s part in getting him out safely. Hesitating for just a moment, he also added that Olivia was a blood rose.